Yacht Charter in Hawaii: No Better Place to Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?

Okay, okay, I get it—turkey and stuffing and gravy and mashed potatoes aren't exactly the foods that come to mind when you think about Hawaii. (Poi, anyone?) But hey, what’s wrong with a little Thanksgiving dinner on a charter yacht anchored off Oahu with pineapple-coconut chutney on the side? Trying new things is, as they say, the spice of life. Why not add a new holiday twist to the spiced apple cider?

Turkey day on the Tivoli? Why not?

Now, Hawaii is not a typical yacht charter destination, for the simple reason that precious few crewed charter yachts go there. The West Coast of the United States sees just a handful of charter yachts visiting each summer, usually in the Pacific Northwest or Alaska, but the haul across the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii is just too far off the charter business course for most yacht owners to even consider. It’s a truly special occasion when a well-respected charter yacht heads toward Maui or Oahu, and it’s darn close to a Christmas miracle when the visit happens to coincide with a major American holiday.

But wait: Is that a choir of Butterball Hotline Helpers that I hear singing from up on high? Indeed it is, since this Thanksgiving, the 90-foot Doggersbank Tivoli will be based in Hawaii with charter availability.

Tivoli is a crewed charter yacht that has a long and strong reputation in the Caribbean as part of the charter fleet with Nicholson Yachts. I can’t remember how many times I've stepped aboard her at boat shows, but it’s been at least once each year for the better part of a decade. Her owner cares about maintenance and keeps Tivoli looking great, and the yacht’s charter calendar has always been full with new and repeat clients alike.

The owner had been itching to see a bit more of the world beyond the Caribbean Sea, and he got the chance in early 2013 when at least four charter clients agreed to book vacations if he moved Tivoli to the South Pacific. The yacht is now on her way back from that successful season with charters everywhere from Fiji to Tahiti, and she is making her way home by way of Hawaii with the stopover on Thanksgiving. Nicholson Yachts has proposed a seven-day itinerary in Hawaii that starts on the big island less than 20 miles from Honolulu International Airport. From there, Tivoli charter guests can cruise to Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, Molokai, and Lanai on a round-trip route that makes transfers back to the Honolulu airport easy. It’s an itinerary that includes history, culture, and water-sports fun galore, as well as built-in time for some exploring onshore with the kids.

And make no mistake: Tivoli is ideally suited for a family charter, with a queen-bed master stateroom along with a pair of twin-bed staterooms, accommodating a maximum of six guests. The weekly base rate with captain and chef is $55,000. But really, can you put a price on scoring the big drumstick and attending a luau in the same day? That’s a tough one. This particular yacht charter experience is so unique that it hardly comes around at all, and it truly may never present itself again.